The Right Stuff is a dating service in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, in business since 1993. Membership is international, and limited to single students, graduates, and faculty, of medical schools, and of select universities and colleges. ''TIME'' Magazine mentioned it in a review of dating services, saying, "If you’re highly educated and seeking a highly educated partner, Right Stuff Dating ('The Ivy League of Dating') may be right for you." According to the Right Stuff web site, as of 2015, there are about 4,900 members, and 310 couples have met and married through the site.

History and membership

The Right Stuff conducted business via paper and United States postal service beginning in 1993. It advertised in magazines such as ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

'', ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'', ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'', and ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

'' magazines, similar publications in Washington D.C., and California, and university alumni magazines for the target universities. The Right Stuff went to the web in 1997. Originally, membership was limited to affiliates of

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

, the Seven Sisters,

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

, Northwestern,

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

UChicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, near the shore of Lake Michigan about fro ...

, and

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

. Over time, the list of eligible universities has expanded to about 70 top-tier schools, and any medical school. Competing niche sites targeting high intelligence or graduates of elite universities have either closed entirely, no longer work with current browsers, or are otherwise essentially moribund. These include docdates.com, fastcupid.com, intellectconnect.com, ivydate.com, mymitra.com, and sweetongeeks.com.

Mechanics of site

As of July 2015, a six-month membership costs $75.00. The membership is discounted for full-time students, recent graduates, and residents of certain states. The Right Stuff requires its members to provide proof of student, graduate, or faculty relationship to one of the listed universities or medical schools. New members submit two write-ups. The first is a short 35-to-50 word profile, which is visible to all members of the opposite sex. The second is an extended one-page biography that gives a more detailed description of the member's personality and preferences. Members are given web search access to the short 35-to-50 word profiles of other members. Based on that search, members may order one-page extended biographies for $3.10 each. Members may initiate communication through an intra-site email system, which allows members to remain anonymous until they choose to reveal more.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External sources

* Dr. Christie Hartmann
Niche Online Dating Sites for Intellectual Badasses
(January 2014) * Richard Kostalanetz
Why Internet Dating
New English Review (June 2013) 1993 establishments in New Jersey Online dating services of the United States